GIC, Temasek help drive corporate purchases by sovereign funds to $34b in third quarter

10/10/2019

LONDON (REUTERS) – Sovereign wealth funds increased their merger and acquisition activity to US$24.6 billion (S$34 billion) in the third quarter, propelled by deals involving Singapore’s GIC Pte and Temasek Holdings as well as China Investment Corp.

Such state-owned funds were involved in 49 announced deals, up from 46 with a total value of US$15.5 billion in the previous quarter, Refinitiv data showed. The bumper second quarter total was the highest since the US$35.8 billion hit in Q2 2018. The fourth quarter is also gearing up to be a bumper period for deals, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority this month involved in a 10.2 billion Swiss francs (S$14.19 billion) deal to buy Nestlé’s Nestlé Skin Health.

The largest deal during the third quarter involved GIC and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management agreeing to buy U.S freight railroad owner Genesee & Wyoming Inc in a deal valued at about US$8.7 billion including debt, according to Refinitiv data.

“This kind of business is stable and provides security in times of big uncertainty over returns and yields,” said Javier Capapé, director of the sovereign wealth research at IE Center for the Governance of Change.